my husband and i can’t seem to go through our bananas fast enough (i can only make so many smoothies a day!) that i decided to find a recipe for some banana muffins and found this one on Allrecipes.com. i usually don’t do banana bread all that often, but i’m glad i found this recipe! another reason why muffins were invented! just another excuse to have cupcakes for breakfast! (ok, granted, these muffins aren’t frosted, but they sure are sweet!)

ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup melted butter

streusel topping:

• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp butter

Directions:

• preheat oven to 375 degrees F, and line muffin pan
• in a large bowl combine 1.5 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. next add mashed bananas, sugar, eggs, and melted butter. (i used a hand mixer to combine all the ingredients). spoon batter into muffin pan
• in a small bowl, combine brown sugar, 2 tbsp flour, and cinnamon. cut the 1tbsp butter into mixture until it is crumbly. sprinkle the streusal topping over the muffins
• bake for 18-20 minutes (i baked mine for 18 and they came out perfect!)

the recipe says it makes 10 muffins, but i was able to fill up my whole tray and it made 12. as soon as i pulled them out of the oven they smelled so delish, i could hardly wait to try one!! the brown sugar topping is the perfect addition! as soon as they cooled off enough that they were still warm, i devoured one (along with a glass of milk), and then ran down to my husband’s office and told him he had to try it right then! i tell you what, these muffins are the bomb! next time i might add some walnuts to the mix!

(and yes, FYI, i’m going to make them again for my party this weekend!)

here are some things i worked on over the weekend pre-injury!

more zipper pouches:

the pink print is my favorite! it’s by Benartex and is part of the City Girl collection by Kitty Yoshida.

and a onesie and burp cloth set:

i FINALLY was able to find some cute owl fabric!! it’s been hard for me to find any at the local shops, either they just don’t carry them, or they sell out too fast!

this owl print has a retro feel to it, and has tons of fun, bright colors! i bought a few yards, and when i showed my sisters, they both loved it so much that they each gave me instructions on what to make them that i actually had to go back the next day to Hancock Fabrics for the second time in one weekend to get more!! (my second trip back, it was nowhere near where i had found it before and was worried that they actually sold out of it already! after about 15 minutes of aimless wandering through every single aisle, i finally found it, and i’m not even sure why it was put where it was, but in any event, i got more!!)  the blue and turquoise flower print is also kind’ve retro-y, and as soon as i saw the “nerds rock” print i thought of my husband and bought it just for the sake of bringing it home to show him- i have NO IDEA what to make with it!! (hmmm, maybe the new laptop cover by Amy Butler?)

but, i guess i’ll have a bit of time to decide because in the midst of all my weekend projects i had my very first painful sewing injury!! i was on a roll with some bag making and was cutting away with my rotary…and next thing you know the tip of my fingernail is sliced up!! yeah. not so fun! and of course it’s my index finger so putting pressure on it doesn’t feel so good! i’ll spare you any gory details as i’ve already done the overly dramatic thing with my husband (nothing like milking it!), and i’m really hoping to be back at all my projects by tomorrow!

when i went on my trip to myrtle to visit one of my best friends, i knew exactly what to make her for her birthday this month! she loves purple so when i found this print on fabric.com i knew the perfect idea for her! i made her one of my tote bags and also made a matching portfolio with it- i figured with all the wedding planning she’ll be doing it would be a good place for her to be able to jot down ideas!

then, no sooner did i received a thank you card for it, i also got this in mail!!!! (talk about shocked! the UPS guy showed up and i knew i hadn’t ordered anything, and was pretty positive my husband hadn’t either, so i was pleasantly surprised when i opened the box up to find this!)

it’s a cookie “invitation” asking me to be her bridesmaid!! how fun! i of course called her instantly and said i would be honored!!!

(in case you can’t see what it says, the cookie reads, “It is hard for me to believe that in just a little while Tieg and I will be walking down the aisle. And nothing would give me more joy and pride than to have you right there by my side. Will you be my Bridesmaid?”)

oh yeah…and no, i don’t plan on eating it! it’s just too cute to devour!

here’s a couple more hobo bags that i made! i love the black and white polka dot one! (love polka dots!) and the inside actually has fabric that my mom got me from Vietnam. it is a white print with some black and green flowers. instead of making magnetic snap closures on the bag, i thought it would be cute to have tie straps instead!